ClearBasis vs CoinLedger
US filers who want the actual filing artefacts and a clear escalation path to a human, at mainstream prices. We are a different shape of product: narrower today, and built so that every number can be traced to the record it came from. Below is what they do better, where we differ, and a table where each figure is the one the vendor published, linked to the page it came from.
What CoinLedger does better
Starting anywhere else would waste your time.
- The paywall sits late: import, portfolio and a gains-and-losses preview are free, and the raw transaction CSV can be taken away without paying.
- It produces real US filing artefacts rather than a generic gains file — Form 8949 itemised and consolidated, Schedule D, Schedule 1, Form 8453, plus upload files for TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxAct and TaxSlayer.
- A priced human escalation path all the way to a done-for-you engagement at a published $3,500–$6,000 over roughly three weeks.
Where we are different
Every figure carries its evidence. Every figure links to the row it came from — source file, row number, tx hash, price source. Rulesets are versioned and dated (2026.08-r1) and the methodology memos (M-001…) are published, not internal.
The answer is free; the paperwork is paid. Everything computed and visible — true gain, the blank-basis overstatement, per-lot detail in preview, gaps and decisions. Payment unlocks the documents (Form 8949, workpapers, exports); nothing about the answer is hidden to sell the answer.
Your basis is portable by design. Basis Passport: your full evidence-linked basis history as a signed, versioned JSON file, free from any saved scan even if you never pay. The spec is public and anyone — including these competitors — may implement it.
Dead platforms are the specialty. Dead-platform rebuild is the specialty: FTX, Celsius, Cryptopia, Mt. Gox and others, reconstructed from what survives, with the gaps shown rather than filled in.
Side by side
| ClearBasis | CoinLedger | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get without paying | Everything computed and visible — true gain, the blank-basis overstatement, per-lot detail in preview, gaps and decisions. Payment unlocks the documents (Form 8949, workpapers, exports); nothing about the answer is hidden to sell the answer. | Import unlimited exchanges and wallets, track the portfolio and see a gains preview; downloading the tax reports requires a paid plan for that year. |
| Price at ~1,000 transactions | $99 per tax-year bundle (≤1,000 tx) | $99 per tax year (Investor, ≤1,000 tx) |
| Above that | $249 (≤5,000 tx) · $399 (≤15,000) · $649 (≤50,000) | From $199 per tax year (Pro) — the card prints '$199+' and additional transactions are bought in-app at a price not published |
| Connections | 13 auto-detected CSV formats today, including the 1099-DA itself and migration files from Koinly, CoinTracker, CoinLedger and CoinTracking. Read-only API and on-chain sync are not live yet — that is the honest gap. | Exchange, wallet and chain imports via API and CSV; the count differs between their pages. |
| Country depth | Three deep country guides (Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania) in five languages plus a global hub; US federal throughout. | US-focused, with support for several other jurisdictions. |
| Documents produced | Form 8949 (PDF + CSV), evidence workpapers, TurboTax CSV, TXF — opening with payments. | Form 8949 (itemised and consolidated), Schedule D, Schedule 1, Form 8453, TurboTax/H&R Block/TaxAct/TaxSlayer files, and an 'Audit Trail Report' that traces the arithmetic. |
| Evidence behind each figure | Every figure links to the row it came from — source file, row number, tx hash, price source. Rulesets are versioned and dated (2026.08-r1) and the methodology memos (M-001…) are published, not internal. | The audit-trail report traces the calculation, which is more than most ship — but it is arithmetic, not legal authority: no cited statute per figure, no published methodology, no versioned ruleset. |
| Getting your data out | Basis Passport: your full evidence-linked basis history as a signed, versioned JSON file, free from any saved scan even if you never pay. The spec is public and anyone — including these competitors — may implement it. | Transaction history CSV is exportable free; computed basis comes with the paid reports. |
| Dead platforms | Dead-platform rebuild is the specialty: FTX, Celsius, Cryptopia, Mt. Gox and others, reconstructed from what survives, with the gaps shown rather than filled in. | Not a stated specialty. |
| Support model | Self-serve; no sales calls. Practitioner tier (Workbench) is self-serve too. | Email/chat, Expert Review, and a published Done-For-You engagement at $3,500–$6,000. |
CoinLedger figures from their own pricing page, checked 2026-08-23.
Which one should you actually use?
Choose CoinLedger if you need dozens of exchanges connected by API today, or a statutory form for a country we have not built yet. We would rather tell you that than take your money for a worse fit.
Choose ClearBasis if your problem is missing cost basis — transferred-in coins, a dead exchange, a decade of history, or a 1099-DA that reads your whole sale as profit — and you need every figure to survive a question from a tax authority, with the evidence attached.
Use both if it helps. Their export imports here directly, and our Basis Passport is an open format anyone can read — including them. Switching costs are a business model, not a law of nature.
Other comparisons
ClearBasis vs Koinly · ClearBasis vs CoinTracker · ClearBasis vs Blockpit · ClearBasis vs CoinTracking
compare-2026.1 · figures checked 2026-08-23 · CoinLedger are trademarks of their respective owners; ClearBasis is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them. Competitor figures are what each vendor published on its own site on the date shown and change without notice — follow the links and check before deciding. Where a vendor does not publish a figure in machine-readable form we say so rather than estimate it. ClearBasis is tax software, not a law firm, accounting firm or tax preparer.